The best word to describe the Galapagos Islands is magical. I have never been to a place where the animals were so unafraid of humans. Before this trip, I didn’t know such a place existed.
In order to see this island paradise, the vast majority of travelers spend many thousands of dollars on a live-aboard cruise. As a result, we’ve noticed that a common misconception among travelers is that the Galapagos islands are a very expensive, out-of-reach destination. However, we simply did not find this to be the case. Rather, we found that it was easy and very affordable to travel the Galapagos independently, and because everyone else seemed to travel by cruise ship, we had many places to ourselves with the exception of a bunch of animals of course!
We traveled to 3 of the islands during our five days in the Galapagos. There are 13 major islands and 7 smaller islands that make up the Galapagos. If you want to get to the very remote islands you will have to take a cruise as they currently do not allow travel to them without a licensed boat. The islands we went to, circled below, do not require any guided tours.
Alex and I went to the Galapagos Islands after doing some hiking and mountaineering in the Ecuadorian Andes. Before we left on our trip to Ecuador we were not even sure we were going to be able to fit in the Galapagos islands but we are so glad we did. It ended up being the absolute highlight of our trip! Because it wasn’t really planned, we did not have a lot of time, but we still managed to fit in travel to 3 of the islands in 5 days. Below I’ve outlined how we did it and our highlights. I want to preface this with I don’t necessarily recommend fitting in 3 islands in 5 days. Although we made it work, if I were to do this over again I would definitely take it slower and explore more. However, it is possible for folks who are tight on time and budget.
Getting to the Galapagos:
After our attempt to summit Mount Chimborazo we immediately went straight to Guayaquil, as in, we did not even get a chance to shower before hopping on the 8 hour bus! We stayed 1 night in Guayaquil on New Year’s Eve, which was pretty spectacular. The Ecuadorians celebrate new years with the burning of the muñecas, in other words, sticking fire crackers in giant dolls and blowing them up. We didn’t realize that Ecuador was so cool on New Year’s Eve before we left on our trip.
The next morning we flew to San Cristóbal. There are two airports in the Galapagos that can be flown into directly from mainland Equador and they are on San Cristóbal and Santa Cruz. We loved the island of San Cristóbal so I definitely would not skip this island but perhaps see if you can fly into San Cristóbal and out of Santa Cruz to avoid another horrible boat ride (more on that later). The cost of our round trip flights from Guayaquil were $219 round trip per person and were booked completely last minute. There is a fee of $20 when you leave mainland Ecuador and another fee to enter the Galapagos of $100 per person so be aware of that cost when planning your trip. Another important thing to be aware of is that they are very concerned about introducing foreign substances to the fragile ecosystem so you cannot bring fresh produce onto the islands and they will make sure your shoes are clean and have you scrub them if they are not.
San Cristóbal
We were so excited we could hardly contain ourselves when we landed in the small airport of San Cristóbal. There were many taxis in front of the airport which can be taken for a small price, usually around 3 dollars (remember to negotiate) but we had read that it was a short walk to the town center so we just walked to our hotel from the airport, too excited to even deal with a taxi. The Galapagos is one place where our extremely high expectations were not only met, but completely blown out of the water.
While walking to the main part of town we ran into our first sea lion.
As we approached the town we saw more and more! We were too excited to even try to find a hotel to drop our bags off so we walked along the promenade and beach seeing dozens of sea lions.
San Cristóbal Highlights
Sea lion watching
The highlight of this island is definitely the abundance of sea lions. It was incredible!
We saw more here by far than the other two islands combined. Right outside our hotel room there was the promenade and a beach with hundreds of Sea Lions. They have completely taken over the beach and many parts of the promenade. You can watch them everywhere and be entertained for hours on end and it’s free! You can really get up close to the sea lions but DO NOT TOUCH the CUBS. They may be rejected by their mothers and die since the mother will smell you on the cub.
Las Loberias:
Another highlight was walking to Las Loberias (30-40 min walk from town or $3 taxi ride each way) and hiking out to a fairly isolated beach seeing Marine iguanas and sea lions along the way.
You can snorkel with the sea lions at Las Loberias but when we tried, we found the visibility wasn’t that great compared to other parts of the islands. Also, there was a male bull sea lion who was being quite aggressive with people in the water so watch out for that!
Playa Mann, Interpretation Center, Frigatebird Hill and Las Tijeretas
I combined these highlights into one since they can all be done within a half day or full day excursion together since they are all right next to each other. We rented some snorkeling gear in town ahead of time and walked a couple of kilometers from town to this area.
Playa Mann
The snorkeling here was excellent. It was a rocky beach but once you get past that it’s really great. We saw 5 sea turtles there (one that was red) and some sea lions playing in the water. We were surprised more people were not snorkeling here since there were so many turtles.
Galapagos Interpretation Center
Where you can learn about the history of the islands. I found this very informative.
Frigatebird Hill
2 mile hike from the interpretation center on a very well maintained trail. It comes to an overlook looking out at Shipwreck Bay and Kicker Rock or Sleeping Lion rock (check out highlights we wished we had done for more on that). Keep your eyes peeled for Frigatebirds.
Las Tijeretas Snorkeling
On the walk back from Frigatebird hill there will be a junction where you can head off to Las Tijeretas cove for some beautiful aqua waters to snorkel in. Here we snorkeled with sea lions and a marine iguana and beautiful fish.
San Cristóbal highlights we regret missing
Kicker Rock also known as Leon Dormido (Sleeping Lion Rock): We heard from many people we met that the snorkeling and/or scuba diving here is absolutely incredible. If/when we go back we will go scuba diving here for sure. We heard of people seeing many hammerhead sharks, rays, Galapagos sharks, and of course sea lions and sea turtles.
Lodging/Restuarants
We “splurged” on our first hotel because we wanted A/C so it was around $30/night (or $15/pp). There are many hotels near the promenade that you can go and check out. Always look in the room ahead to time to make sure it has what you need (e.g. if you need a place to charge your electronics, or if you want A/C etc). We stayed at an even better hotel the second time on our way back. Hotel San Fransico ($25/night) with super friendly staff. So many people just come to the Galapagos on guided cruises so the hotels and restaurants seemed happy to have guests and there were quite a few restaurants.
Getting from San Cristóbal to Santa Cruz
2 ½ hour lancha (speed boat) ride. We only saw 1 or 2 other gringos on all four lanchas we took who were crazy enough to do this. But it is a cheap way to get between islands ($30/pp each way) and they leave 2x/day. You are packed like sardines and several people threw up on each trip we took. The water between the islands is known to be very turbulent and vomiting is so common that they keep throw up bags tied up around the boat for this purpose.
Santa Cruz (Puerto Ayora)
Before our 2 1/2 hour boat ride to get to Santa Cruz, we unfortunately decided to take Dramamine because we heard that it’s very common to get seasick. We were so tranquilized by the Dramamine that we checked into a hotel right away and slept the rest of the afternoon. We stayed at a nice hostel, Hostal España with A/C for $36/night. When we woke up later that evening we were super bummed that we had slept because we wanted to see the darwin center and when we tried to see it later that night, it had already closed. Santa Cruz is definitely a more touristy island than San Cristóbal containing many tourist shops and tour operators. Seeing that it was dark we took the rest of the evening to buy souvenirs for family and to talk to tour companies about doing a snorkel trip on Isla Isabela as we heard good things about Los Tuneles. We found a place that offered $95/pp for a half day tour there including lunch so we booked it. We decided to book this one with a tour since you need a boat to get out there, but if we could do it again I would just see if I could hire a boat.
Santa Cruz Highlights
Tortuga Bay Early Morning Snorkeling
While we shopped around for a Los Tuneles tour, we spoke to some locals about their recommendations for Santa Cruz and they suggested we go snorkeling at Tortuga Bay where there are baby sharks in the early morning hours. So we rented some snorkel equipment the night before and woke up at 5:30AM to walk the 2.5 miles to the park and then out to the bay. Once at Tortuga Bay, you want to head right to the second beach. We had the entire beach to ourselves for an hour or so. We saw dozens of baby sharks (and one that was not such a baby), a sea turtle and fish. The hike into this beach is gorgeous and it’s worth a trip even if you don’t go there in the early hours to see the sharks.
See the Tortugas (Tortoises) in the Highlands
We initially intended to take a taxi there and bike back but rainy weather and time prevented this. So we just hired a taxi to take us both ways (~$30-35). The reserve is incredibly muddy, and you’ll need boots to explore. Fortunately, the reserve provides big rubber boots that you can borrow. The tortoises were amazing, we just wish that we had more time to explore here.
Highlights we regret missing
Charles Darwin Research Station
Transport from Santa Cruz to Isabela:
We took a 3pm boat ride from Santa Cruz to Isabela for $30 (a few people threw up again).
Isla Isabela:
We really enjoyed this island and again wished we had more time there (notice a pattern?). It’s a less populated and much less developed island. We “splurged” on a more expensive hotel for $20pp/night, but there are cheaper options. The food options were not great since there are fewer tourists here and most restaurants were closed. This was one of the many times in our travels we wished we had brought more snacks.
Isla Isabela Highlights
Snorkeling at Los Tuneles:
We did a day tour (the only tour we did) and saw a ½ dozen huge sea turtles, 2 seahorses, penguins, blue footed boobies, and of course sea lions. Diving under the tunnels was a another highlight and seeing two turtles performing a mating ritual. The water was amazingly clear. It was an amazing day but It was difficult to stick with the group, so we kept going off on our own to explore (I know we were not supposed to). The one nice thing about having a guide is that he was able to point out some animals that we may have missed (like the seahorses).
Explore on foot and see cool birds/animals:
The first day there we explored the beaches and some trails on foot. We watched animals and saw a very unique bird.
Highlight we regret missing
Bike around the island and to the wall of tears. We met a couple who did this and they said it was one of their highlights of their trip. Click here to learn more:
Overview of our itinerary
- Jan 1: Land in San Cristóbal in the late afternoon. Las Loberias hike: marine iguanas, and sea lion watching
- Jan 2: Boat ride to Santa Cruz on Dramamine (out for most of the rest of day)<-Last time we will ever use the type that is not non-drowsy. Rented snorkels for next morning
- Jan 3: Woke up at 5:30 AM for morning snorkel at Tortuga Bay (loads of sharks). Went to see the tortoises in the highlands. 3:00 pm Lancha ride to Isla Isabella. Walked around town, and beach.
- Jan 4: Los Tuneles Half day snorkeling: Lots of marine life, penguins and blue-footed boobies. 3:00 pm Lancha ride to Santa Cruz.
- Jan 5: 7:00 AM lancha ride to San Cristóbal. Rented snorkel gear right away and snorkeled at Las Loberias for a little but left early due to territorial bull. Went to Playa Mann instead for some amazing snorkeling (saw 5 sea turtles)
- Jan 6: Walked to the interpretation center and hiked Frigatebird Hill in the early morning. Snorkeled at Las Tijeretas. Caught flight back to Guayaquil and straight on to Quito.
As you can see by the itinerary above, it was a whirlwind of a trip and if we hadn’t already booked our lodge in the Amazon we definitely would have stayed longer. If I get a chance to go again I would probably take at least two weeks in the Galapagos because it is such a magical place. To witness the sheer abundance of animals that are so unafraid of humans is truly amazing. I will forever remember the moment while snorkeling in an alcove, a sea lion swimming right up to me and looking at me right in the eye. It was so surreal. This was among the many animal encounters both on land and in the water that make the Galapagos feel like a magical dream. I hope this helps you travel to the Galapagos on a budget!
Happy Travels.
Liz